Dual-Purpose – Heating & Cooling – Thermal Battery for Flexible and Energy Efficient Heat Pump Systems

University of Maryland (Prime), EPRI, Sunamp, Heat Technologies, ORNL, Rheem is developing a technology consisting of a dual-purpose (heating and cooling) thermal battery with room temperature storage integrated with heat pump(s) (HP’s), for both residential and commercial applications. The thermal battery serves as the heat reservoir that absorbs heat when operating as condenser in cooling mode or rejects heat when operating as evaporator in heating mode. The system may be configured as a single HP with one compressor (preferably two-stage) or two compressors, or two separate HP’s with dedicated compressors.